Alex Wurman (born October 5, 1966) is an American

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

who hails from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He is best known for his film scores to ''

March of the Penguins ''March of the Penguins'' ( French ''La Marche de l'empereur''; ) is a 2005 French feature-length nature documentary directed and co-written by Luc Jacquet, and co-produced by Bonne Pioche and the National Geographic Society. The documentary d ...

'', '' Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy'', '' Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby'', and the TV series '' Patriot''.

Early life and career

Wurman was born in Chicago, to parents Brenda and Hans Wurman, both musicians. His father was a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

arranger and composer who wowed the world of

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

with one of the first

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer ...

recordings ('Moog Strikes Bach,' RCA 1969), and before that he escaped from

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

during the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

period of

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

rule. His brother was cellist Felix Wurman. Wurman attended

Oak Park and River Forest High School Oak Park and River Forest High School (OPRF) is a public four-year high school located in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. It is the only school in Oak Park and River Forest District 200. Founded in 1871, the current school building ope ...

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, adjacent to Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, 26th-most populous municipality in Illinois, with a population of 54,318 as of the 2020 census. Oak Park was first se ...

, and the Chicago Academy for the Arts. He went on to study at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

in Coral Gables and later the American Conservatory of Music in

. After moving to Los Angeles in his early twenties, Wurman began scoring films for students at the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

. Wurman has written many

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

s, including those for the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-winning documentary ''

'', plus '' Hollywood Homicide'', ''

Criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

'', '' Anchorman'', '' Confessions of a Dangerous Mind'', ''

What Doesn't Kill You What does not kill me makes me stronger () is part of aphorism number 8 from the "Maxims and Arrows" section of Friedrich Nietzsche's ''Twilight of the Idols'' (1888). It is quoted or alluded to by many other works, with minor variants in wording. ...

'', ''

The Nines ''The Nines'' is a 2007 American science fiction psychological thriller film written and directed by John August, and starring Ryan Reynolds, Hope Davis, Melissa McCarthy, and Elle Fanning. Three seemingly disconnected stories, revolving a ...

'', ''

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

'', '' The Switch'', '' Unfinished Business'', '' Run Fatboy Run'', '' Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby'', the contemporary interpretations of French impressionism in '' Thirteen Conversations About One Thing'', the first season of ''

Newsroom A newsroom is the central place where journalists—reporters, editing, editors, and Television producer, producers, associate producers, news anchors, news designers, photojournalists, videojournalists, associate editor, residence editor, visu ...

'' and '' Temple Grandin'', for which he won the 2010

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Original Dramatic Score). He was previously nominated for a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

in 2008 for ''Bernard and Doris''. Wurman was also a judge for the 10th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers. As of June 2019, his most recent score is the Epix TV series '' Perpetual Grace, LTD''.

Awards

Primetime Emmy Awards * 2010: '' Temple Grandin'' ( Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Original Dramatic Score)) * 2008: ''Bernard and Doris'' (nomination) BMI Film and TV Awards * 2007: '' Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby'' (BMI Film Music Award) * 2006: ''

'' (BMI Film Music Award) * 2005: '' Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy'' (BMI Film Music Award) The Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival Awards * 2011: ''The Last Lions'' (Best Music)

References

External links

Official website
*
Alex Wurman
on Discogs {{DEFAULTSORT:Wurman, Alex 1966 births Living people 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American composers 21st-century American male musicians American Conservatory of Music alumni American film score composers American television composers American male film score composers American male television composers Musicians from Chicago University of Miami alumni